Hallucinations
by Saruwatari Akimi
Summary: An evil creature pays a visit to Anna and Yoh. Anna feels as if her world has ended when Yoh dies, but who can she trust and how can she tell what is real?
1. Chapter 1: The Beginning

**Hallucination**

**Chapter 1**

"Aw, come on, Anna, you have to let me see!" Yoh whined. "Pleeeeeease?"  
"No, no and no. Yoh, it's a surprise! You can see it when it's FINISHED," Anna replied firmly, covering the screen with one arm. "And it's not finished. So you can't see it. Go make me a cup of coffee. No sugar."

Yoh sighed, knowing the best thing to do would be to obey her. He trudged into Anna's kitchen. He had always liked being at Anna's place - just the smell, the atmosphere seemed to enlighten him. Or perhaps it was just being in the presence of his beautiful fiancée that made him feel that way. As he listened to the coffee machine bubble and gurgle, he wondered if perhaps Anna didn't feel the same way about him he did about her? Maybe it was time to move their relationship onwards? He was busy daydreaming as he walked from the kitchen intothe study with Anna's cup of coffee (no sugar). In his fantasy he forgot about the cablestretched across the floor, tripped over it and spilled coffee all over the keyboard of Anna's computer. It made a strange electrical crackling, then a bang. It was broken for sure.

"YOH! YOU BLITHERING IDIOT!" Anna screamed, pressing the Save button frantically. "MY KEYBOARD! THAT THING WAS BLOODY NEW!" She picked up a nearby book and threw it at him. He dodged. Anna started to pick up random small objects from around her and throw them at Yoh. He ran down the stairs, leaving Anna to rant in peace in the study. _You've really done it now, _said the voice in his head. _She won't love you any more. Just you wait. _

"Oh, shut up!" Yoh yelled out loud. Anna, thinking it was directed at her, slammed the study door so hard the walls rattled. Yoh switched Anna's TV onto his favourite musicchannel, knowing it was going to be some time before she cooled down. He could hear her screaming and yelling upstairs, while gentlywhacking the keyboard into oblivion and backin the hope it might work again. Yoh turned up the volume.

About an hour later, Anna came downstairs wearing a short skirt and cropped top. Yoh stared at her, surprised. Was she suggesting something? Her cheeks were slightly pink, and she kept opening and shutting her mouth. Yoh thought she looked cute when she did that.

"Um, Yoh, I have something to tell you," she announced. Before she could continue, a strange animal with feathered wings and long fangs flew in through one of the open windows. Anna screamed and jumped onto the sofa, landing in Yoh's lap. He blushed. It flew closer to her, closer, closer, closer. It could only be described as utterly gruesome. Neither of them had a clue what it was or where it had come from, but it seemed intent on doing something to Anna. It flew even closer. It had bright yellow eyes and a horned head. It was now so close Anna could see every single one of its disgusting bloodstained teeth...


	2. Chapter 2: Lost Hopes

**Chapter 2**

The creature sank its fangs into Anna's arm. She felt a little woozy for a moment, then seemed to wake up again just in time to see the Thing bite Yoh's neck. He look surprised for a second, then his eyes misted over and he flopped unconscious onto the floor, two small pinpricks in his neck.

"Yoh! No!" she screamed. Pure anger washed over her and she grabbed the knife Yoh had been using earlier to steal slices of a cake she had made and threw it at the creature. It missed and landed with a _thunk _in the door. Startled, the strange beast flew back out of the window. Anna stood where she was, panting. Her cheeks were flushed red and all her anger had turned to sadness for Yoh. Was he going to live? She hoped with all her life he was. She summoned up the strength to call the hospital and within a few minutes Yoh was being lifted onto a stretcher and carried into the ambulance. Anna put her face in her hands and sobbed. The van seemed to disappear suddenly when she blinked. Annoyed, she got into her car and drove to the hospital.

She was sitting outside the operating theatre when Ren, Hao, Horo Horo and Chocolove burst in.

"WHERE IS YOH ASAKURA!" Hao screamed at a passing nurse. She looked shocked and told him she wasn't meant to tell him that. "DON'T GIVE ME THAT," Hao yelled at the unfortunate woman. "HE'S MY BROTHER! I DEMAND TO SEE HIM!" The nurse hurried away, worried, and Anna put her face into her hands and cried.

"Hey Hao, great job," Chocolove said. "You made Anna cry." Hao looked slightly embarrassed temporarily. Ren and Horo Horo went to sit next to Anna, who was now resorting to loud, end-of-the-world sobbing. Horo Horo pulled a hairy piece of chewing gum out of his pocket and offered it to Anna.

"I-I-I c-c-can't eat that!" she sobbed. "S-s-s-strawberry was Y-y-y-yoh's favourite flavour!"

"I didn't know YOU ate chewing gum," Ren said sarcastically. Horo Horo shrugged and put it into his mouth. "Ewwwwwwwwwww," everyone chorused.

About an hour later, a sweating doctor emerged from behind the dreaded doors that separated Anna from her beloved Yoh wearing a white coat and a disappointed expression. Anna gulped.

"Miss Kyouyama, we're extremely sorry. We did everything we could...but your fiancé is dead."

"No..." Anna whispered. "No," she said, louder, with more defiance. "He's not dead. He can't be dead! Please! Can't I see him one last time?" she pleaded. Tears like pearls spilled out of her eyes and rolled down her cheeks. The doctor shook his head sadly. Anna howled. Horo Horo just sat there, the look on his face pure shock. Ren muttered something to Anna and tried to pull her away, but she sat down on the floor and announced she was refusing to move, through muffled sobs. Hao started yelling again, demanding to see his brother and refusing to accept he was dead. Horo Horo spat out his chewing gum onto the floor and received dirty looks from a passing cleaner. Chocolove and Ren ended up having to pick anna up and bundle her back into the car, then drag Hao by the arms. On the way back to their homes Anna sat silently with her arms folded and refused to talk to anyone. Suddenly, the car door and seatbelt melted away and she fell out onto the road. A lorry came screaming by and very narrowly avoided squashing her. Anna got to her feet and began the long walk home. She was just turning a corner when the road seemed to fall away from under her and she was falling through nothing, the world around her nothing but blank whiteness. She noticed a black hole way below her and realised she was going to fall through it. She tried frantically to avoid it, but there was nothing to hold on to, nothing to stop her from falling into the hole.


	3. Chapter 3: The Dreams

**Chapter 3**

****

After falling through the hole, Anna realised she had landed in Yoh's room. Her eyes filled with tears once again as everything she had ever known about the younger Asakura brother came flooding back to her. The atmosphere in the room was strange - it felt as if there was a spiritual presence nearby. Anna looked under Yoh's pillow, something she had never thought of doing before. She blushed. There was a photo of her under there. _He must have really loved me, _thought Anna. She grabbed a photo off one of Yoh's shelves. It was a picture of him eating a huge icecream at a funfair. She held it close to her, trying to convince herself he was still alive. All his things were still there - the reggae CD collection, his special orange headphones, numerous drawings of cheeseburgers...this did not look like the room of a dead person.

"Anna."

Anna snapped out of her daydreaming. Someone...or something...had just said her name. She looked around, a little scared, but there was nobody there.

"Anna?" the voice said again. It sounded exactly like Yoh. Anna looked at the funfair snap of him. The ice-cream had disappeared - eaten or dropped. Strange - photosweren't supposed to move!

"Yoh?" she said dreamily, not believing what she had heard.

"Anna, it'sme, Yoh," the photo said.

"Yoh? I thought you were dead! Oh Yoh!" she said happily, tears streaming down her cheeks. She hugged the photo.

"Anna, wake up. You have to wake up. Please, Anna."

Anna woke with a start. She was back in the car again. She must have fallen asleep. Ren was arguing with Hao, and Horo Horo was trying to stop her head from falling onto his shoulder. She jerked upright. Chocolove was not a good driver...Hao was screaming that he should be allowed to drive. (This meant speeding along at 95 miles an hour - Hao did not _do_ speed limits). She sighed and made a mental note to go back to Yoh's house some time and pick up that photo. Maybe her dream was a sign...perhaps pictures of Yoh could talk to her? Without warning, the car screeched to a halt outside her house.

"Thanks for driving, Chocolove," Anna said wearily. She got out, feeling slightly sick, and decided to go for a walk around the town centre. It was no use. Everything she saw seemed to remind her of Yoh. The icecream van came down the road, playing that annoying tune as usual. Anna noticed the words "Yoh A.was here" in Hao's untidy scrawl. She sighed. That boy really was evil sometimes. She went past the music store, half expecting to see Yoh in there looking at the reggae section. Past the small café on the corner where she and Yoh had once gone for coffee together. Past the fast food restaurant, displaying a large poster of a double cheeseburger in the window. Past the cosmetics shop, where they were advertising hair gel half-price. Anna almost laughed.Yoh had once thrown some of that at her for a joke. It had taken a week to come out of her clothes. She decided the best idea would be to go back to Yoh and Hao's house and get the photo. She caught a bus home then picked up the spare key Yoh had given her once ICE (**I**n **C**ase of **E**mergency). Now more strange things were starting to happen. The furniture started to move around, cornering her. She screamed. This was _too _weird.

"Yoh, help!" she yelled, wishing he were here to help her like he had been so many times before. She felt someone's hand squeeze hers. She looked to the side of her. No-one there. As if by magic, the sofa and chairs went back to their original position, like who or whatever had touched her had restored things to normal. She breathed a sigh of relief and went outside to get in her car. Before she had even opened the door, she appeared on the doorstep of Hao and Yoh's house.

_How the heck did I get here, _she thought. She pressed the doorbell a few times and waited, but nobody answered. "Typical," she muttered. "Flipping Hao's never in."

She opened the door using her spare key, then went upstairs to retrieve the picture she wanted. She was surprised to find Hao sitting cross-legged on the landing.

"Hao? What are you doing? Why didn't you answer the door?" she questioned. He didn't answer. "Hao? Hao! HAO! This isn't funny! Answer me!" she yelled. She poked him and he fell backwards, still in the same position, staring skywards. "Hang on a minute, this isn't Hao! It's just some stupid plastic dummy. Whose pathetic idea was this?" she said angrily. Nobody answered. She strode into Yoh's room and put the picture into her bag. She noticed it was getting pretty dark outside. There was still no sign of Hao. She lay face down on Yoh's bed, breathing in the smell, surprised how much it reminded her of him. She put her head on the pillow for just one minute...just to rest her eyes a little...


	4. Chapter 4: Getting Help

Anna was floating through the sky, hand in hand with Yoh. It was calm, serene - yet the silence was kind of scary. Out of the blue, Yoh spoke.

"I love you, Anna. I love you more than you could ever imagine. If you can hear me, I want you to know that even if you don'trealise it, I am there for you."

"Oh Yoh! I love you too," she said dreamily.

"But some time, we all have to wake up. And perhaps soon it will be time for you to do that."

With that, he disappeared. Anna fell screaming towards the churning sea and sharp rocks below. How could such a wonderful dream turn into a nightmare so suddenly?

"No! Yoh! Someone help!" she yelled.

"Help with what?" said a voice.

Anna woke up, sweating. There was a dark figure standing over her. She could make out a robe and a lot of long hair. "Hao? What are you doing? It must be the middle of the night."

"Yes, and you're in my house.Why are you screaming my dead brother's name at half past three AM?" hequestioned.

"Erm, because, well...I don't know. Sorryabout falling asleep. I just came to pick something up and well...I haven't had a lot of rest lately," she explained.

"It's all right, I guess. Driving around in my PJs in total darkness is not very practical, so you can stay until morning. 'Night, Anna," said Hao. He kissed her - a rushed, sleepy kiss that seemed slightly passionate nevertheless - and left the room. Anna wiped her mouth. Hao kissing her...it felt strange, wrong. He hadn't ever done that when Yoh was around. Oh well. She went back to sleep, a deep, dreamless sleep that seemed to last an eternity.

* * *

The next morning, she stayed for some of Hao's evil burnt toast and coffee, then collected her bag and set off home, hoping maybe she'd be magically teleported there like she had been the day before. Oddly, she felt someone's lips brush against her cheek. Once again there was nobody there. Maybe what Yoh had said in the dream was true. Perhaps he was watching over her. She pushed her hands in her pockets and tried not to think about Yoh for a while. She decided she'd invite someone- anyone - round for a chat, then go out shopping. She carried on walking home, feeling a lot better.

* * *

"Hello?" 

"Hi. This is Anna."

"Anna? Why are you calling me?"

"Because I just need someone to talk to. You'll know what I mean."

The guy on the other end of the line pulled a face. Girl stuff?

"Let's get it over with, then. Spit it out."

"Have you...ever felt that even though somebody close to you is dead, they're still with you?"

"Well of course I have, I'm a shaman. Exactly why are you asking me this, Anna?"

"Well, sometimes I feel somebody touch me even though there is nobody there. Like earlier when I was walking back from Hao's place someone kissed my cheek. And once I felt my hand be squeezed."

"Strange."

"I agree. When I'm awake, my mind plays tricks on me. I only feel safe in my dreams...with Yoh."

"Get more sleep then." The Chinese shaman on the end of the line laughed at his corny joke.

"Ha ha ha," Anna laughed sarcastically. "Thanks for your "help", Ren. Bye."

"No problem, Anna. Bye then."

She sighed. Her phone call hadn't exactly helped. She switched the TV onto a music channel playing three solid hours of blues. After a while she changed the channel. The sky grew dark and her eyelids grew heavier. She fell asleep on the sofa with her head on her arm.


	5. Chapter 5: The Blackout

**Chapter 5**

Anna woke with a start. How long had she been sleeping? What time was it? She pressed a button on the TV remote and discovered it was 8.12 AM. She yawned, rubbed her eyes and went into the kitchen to find herself something to eat. Hang on a minute. Where was the microwave? What had happened to the fridge? She slapped her forehead. Breakfast would have to wait this morning.

She was just going to change into clean clothes when the phone rang. She charged down the stairs she'd just gone up, and picked up the handset.

"Hello? Anna Kyouyama here."

"Morning, Anna."

"Hao? Is that you?Do you know what time it is?"

"Er, yes and yes. Are you OK? I've heard you're having some problems lately..."

"Wha - ? How do you know?" she asked angrily.

"Ren told me last night. What d'you ring **him** for?"

"He wasn't meant to tell anyone! When I get my hands on that pointy-haired bastard..."

"Cool down, sweetie. I called up to ask if you want to come out to breakfast with me."

"Hao! For goodness' sake! Stop trying to make me fall in love with you! Yoh is - was - the only one I loved, and maybe it should stay that way."

Hao smiled on the other end of the line. "I love it when you act stubborn, Anna," he purred seductively. "Is it a yes, then?"

Anna sighed, fed up with his silver-tongued charm. "Oh, whatever. I have nothing better to do. See you at half past nine." She put down the phone. A few streets away, Haowas also putting the phone down,with a satisfied smirk.

Anna got changed, put on her coat and set out for the town centre. It was cold for September. She stuffed her hands further into her pockets and shivered.A mini-Anna screamed at herfromthe back of her mind._What are you doing! _it yelled. _This is betraying Yoh, going out with his twin brother. Can't you see it'spracticallya DATE?_

She knew the voice was right, but she did not turn backAs shewalked round a corner about ten minutes later, she was bewildered by what she saw. There were so many people on the pavement that people were getting pushed into the road. They all seemed to be wearing long off-white robes with hoods. _Strange, _said the voice in Anna's head. _Be on your guard. _Suddenly, the people in robes turned around. They all had long brown hair and brown eyes carrying a glint of malice. They closed in on her. She gasped - hundreds of Hao's. Anna screamed - a loud, piercing scream that she was surprised she could make. The Hao's moved closer, their robes swirling in the wind. She screamed again, then everything went black.

"Anna? Anna! Are you okay? Speak to me!" somebody said. Anna groaned and opened her eyes. Hao stood over her, a look of worry in his enchanting eyes. She was lying on the pavement and he was kneeling next to her, holding her. She brushed herself off and stood up. A small crowd had formed by then. Hao shooed them away and they walked along, his arm round her shoulder. Her head hurt too much for her to care. "What happened?" she asked Hao painfully. "You screamed twice at something for no apparent reason, then fainted. I thinkyou're pretty much OK now," he explained, pulling her close to him. She pushed away half-heartedly.The shaman and the blonde Itako sat down at a table outside a small café. Anna was daydreaming, not listeningto Hao. Suddenly she found herself teleported again.

The sky was deep blue,the grass greener than a tree-frog's slimy skin in this new place. Anna was sitting under a gnarled,spreading tree, dappled sunlight shining through the leaves. The clouds were cotton-wool wisps revealing nothing more than another vivid patch of sky. The silence was pure innocence, telling her nothing. She smiled as a flower fell from the tree, dancing past her delicate face.

"Time to wake up yet?" she whispered, for no reason. Far away she could her the voice of an excited teenage boy.

"She spoke! I swear! She did! Honest! Well, of course I'm not making it up. Why would I?"

She sat up. The voice sounded familiar. She couldn't quite put her finger on it. She felt the sensation of dreaming, even though she was awake. Or was she? She was sick and tired of having to guess what was real and what was make-believe. The magic of this new place was fading fast. The colours grew paler, and the smell of apple blossom and dried grass turned to one of pungent cleaning liquids and starch.

"Time to wake up," she whispered softly. She closed her eyes and felt the world slip away from her.


	6. Chapter 6: Discovering the Truth

**Chapter 6**

Anna Kyouyama opened her eyes. She was lying in bed in a huge hospital ward, the smell in the air a mixture of pungent floor polish and bleach. She felt a dull pain in her right arm.There was a teenage boy sitting on a chair next to her bed, his brown hair messy, a triumphant smile on his face. He was desperately in need of a shave.

"Yoh?" she said, rubbing her eyes in disbelief. Hao, Ren and Horo Horo came in through the double doors at the end of the ward, all holding bunches of flowers and get well cards.

"Anna!" Yoh said. She threw her arms round his neck and they kissed, a lingering, passionate kiss she wanted to last forever. When they finally broke apart, Yoh spoke.

"I knew you'd wake up. They wouldn't believe me, but I told them, she will wake up. And you did. Anna Kyouyama, I love you!"

"Yoh, I love you too!" Anna said, tears streaming down her cheeks and making the bedsheets wet. The other patients were all staring at them and smiling, one or two older women muttering "Young love". She noticed a flicker of jealousy cross Hao's face for a fleeting moment. Him and the two other males walked over to her bed, looking slightly surprised that she had woken up.

"My laptop..." she murmured. "Bring me my laptop, Yoh." He nodded and walked out of the ward. Horo Horo started to ask herstupid questions and Hao disappeared to buy some chocolate. Ren had apparently gone to the toilet, but she had more important things to worry about.She set about answering Horo Horo's pointless questions while waiting for Yoh to come back. About fifteen minutes later he arrived back from Anna's house, carrying her laptop. He dumped it on her lap. Something clicked in her mind suddenly.

"Yoh, what's the date today?" she asked. He gestured to a calendar someone had left on the table next to her bed. It was covered in pictures of cartoon cats with huge cheesy smiles. "It's from Chocolove," Yoh said grimly. "Where did he get such a disgusting calendar!"

Anna laughed and opened it, flicking through numerous pages with days crossed off. She came to September. It was September the twelfth.

"September the...? That means...Yoh...you've been here for _three weeks?_" she said, surprised. He nodded. A single tear escaped her eye. It wasn't much, but it was enough for Yoh. She appreciated it. She pressed the On button of the laptop and clicked on the word processing program. She opened a document and passed the computer to Yoh. He read the first page aloud.

"How to Torture Your Fiancé...My Relationship With a Shaman, Anna Kyouyama," he read. Everyone laughed. Anna blushed. His eyes went from side to side as he scrolled through the pages. For the first time in his nineteen years, Yoh Asakura cried.

"Anna...this is beautiful.." he said, touched. She smiled and hugged him. By this time Ren and Hao had come back and were fighting over the laptop.

"Oh, by the way, Anna, I sometimes talked to you when you were in the coma," Yoh admitted. "You never reacted, but I don't suppose it got through anyway?"

"Oh, it got through all right," Anna said thankfully, thinking of the times in her dreams where Yoh had spoken to her, the times when she had felt phantom kisses from nobody. "It got through."

_And that is the end of my first fanfic! Hope you enjoyed it and I will write more soon, but at the moment I'm more busy with my Cardcaptor Sakura fanfic Lost Hopes, Crimson Tears...if you like CCS maybe you could read it? flutters eyelashes Okay, that approach isn't going to work. Please review this story! Or I will break something! I don't know what, but I will:D_


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